Nick Galley fished Lower Slade Reservoir and tempted a new personal best landing a fine mirror carp scaling 31lb 2oz. The fish is I believe a new lake record improving on its weight when last captured at just over 29lb.
Shore caught specimen fish have been scarce for the past couple of months. Combe Martin SAC member Jamie Steward made the effort to get out and registered a fine tope of 36lb 10oz and small eyed ray of 12lb 13oz. Jamie has been busy raising funds for the Ilfracombe RNLI and has orgnanised two superb raffles for North Devon’s anglers. The second raffle for sea anglers will be announced shortly. The first sold out raffle raised over £250.
Most of our friends and family are aware that Jamie almost lost his life recently (15/10/2022) to the sea whilst out fishing.
If not for the efforts of RNLI Ilfracombe and the Coastguard search and rescue helicopter Jamie would not be here today.
We can not express how thankful we are, and to show our gratitude we will be raising funds for RNLI Ilfracombe by participating in The Lake District 100km Ulitmate challenge on the 10th and 11th June 2023.
We will be walking 100km continuously.
In order to raise as much as possible towards alongside of our challenge we will be doing some fishing related raffles.
The RNLI risk their lives to save ours, please help us raise some money to support them too.
For those not wishing to participate in the raffles but who would like to sponsor us, our just giving page has been added to this fb page.
All proceeds from all raffles will be going to our RNLI just giving page and proof of this will be provided when the money is transferred.
Thank you again RNLI Ilfracombe from the bottom of my heart for saving Jamie, because of you, my children still have their Father, I still have my husband, his brother still has his brother and his parents still have their son
Newbridge Spring Newsletter – April 2023The season opened with a flourish but after two days of catching many well repaired kelts we agreed a cessation to give these precious fish a chance to get away to sea. The river has been in spate for nearly six weeks since and any fresh arrivals are well upriver by now. It is good for the fish to get up to safety but not so good if you’re hoping to catch one on the club water. The rain should back off now and the beat would be expected to fish well for a while.
Our working parties have been busy creating a new shelter and it is now ready for use. We do intend to tidy up the muddy floor but hopefully we have a place to sit, eat, chat and enjoy company as the river slides by. There was a lot of history attached to the old club hut and maybe now we can create new history of our own! We intend to have a club meeting there later in the year to celebrate the revival of such an asset and will post it when the time comes. Meanwhile work continues and the next step is to create a crossing for the stream and to strim a route up through the woods to give access to the dump car park. This will save having to go back out to the lane to access lower sections of the beat.
Member Nick Mcmurtrie has graciously been helping with refurbishment of the club cups and we now have more to offer at the AGM. We have a refurbished Mullet cup and a Bass cup to offer as well as the salmon and sea trout cups so sea fish, any method, are welcome on your catch return this year. We also are looking at the course cups ‘ found’ and trying to identify them for use. We now have a “junior best fish” cup too and would encourage any one with a young angler in the family, or knows of a keen youngster ,to engage with the club as they are our future and would be more than welcome.
I’ve had an Email from P.C. Lucy Robinson who is a local police officer, wild life trained and involved in stopping rural crime including poaching and antisocial behaviour. She has supported us in various issues in the past and has asked that we call in untoward activity on the river. It’s really good to have such support locally. Also continue to report to the E.A. incident line when you feel it’s appropriate, Particularly regarding poaching and pollution. Please reference the club if you do. They don’t always respond but it is all logged and the more we call it in the more chance of action. We have been told the E.A. are recruiting more Bailiffs which is good news
Hopefully the summer newsletter will have interim catch reports so we wish you a good season.
Tight lines
Don Hearn
A short session at Wistlandpound brought reward in the shape of a fin perfect brown trout. A bitter cold Easterly wind was blowing down the lake as I enjoyed a short morning session. The sunshine occasionally broke through a grey sky illuminating the lush green growth of early spring. Sand martins swooped low over the water and I thought of the epic journey they had just made from Africa. What a chill welcome they were getting as our spring stutters towards the warmth of late spring and summer.
I did my normal routine walk around the reservoir casting into familiar spots that had proved successful over the years. I chose to use three flies, a black lure on the point with a black pennel and black spider on two droppers. There were no fish rising and very little sign of insect life. After numerous casts I changed the point fly for a beaded PTN and adopted a very slow retrieve.
After a further searching the line momentarily tightened giving that encouraging injection of hope. A few casts later the line zipped properly tight and the rod absorbed the plunges of a hard fighting brown. I admired its spotted flanks and delighted in its return to the cold spring waters.
Bruce Elston and his friend enjoyed a great day on Anglers Paradise’s Catch and release trout lake.
Stafford Moor fishery has recently been voted one of the best carp fishing venues in the UK coming sixth in Angling Times recent poll
Dan Gunn and his friend Adrian fished on the double swim 1 up on lodge lake they banked 7 fish up to 26lb. The guys were using Krill 20mm boilies glugged & Mainline Hybrid wafters.
( Below) Scott Allan who fished from swim 2 on lodge lake and had 11 fish out up to 27lb , all fish were caught on Mainline cell boilies.
Some stunning match weights at Stafford Moor where Lee Werrett won the latest match with 288lb 10oz. Runner up was Ben Evendon with 201lb 2oz and third Pete Horton with 179lb 2oz.
Andrew Burt Chairman of the National Mullet Club is urging anglers who have benefited from the netting ban in estuaries across the South West to express their thoughts regarding the significant benefits in extending the current bylaw that has undoubtedly protected stocks that are valuable to the recreational angling community who largely practice catch and release.
Below is an explanation of the current situation with information that can be drwn upon when drafting a letter or email.
Devon & Severn Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authority (D&SIFCA) Netting Permit Bylaw Review, Benefits and Implications
The D&S IFCA netting bylaw, D&S IFCA MCRS and Bylaws (see page 20 for netting), came into effect on the 1st March 2018. After 5 years it is now up for review and the process will start shortly.
D&S IFCA introduced this bylaw to protect salmonids, bass, grey mullet and other species that use these inshore areas for migration, as nurseries or for refuge. In doing so D&S IFCA recognised the importance of protecting these areas from commercial fishing and the benefits to recreational fishing and local communities. It is worth noting that many of these areas now fully protected are BNAs (Bass Nursery Areas) and are ecologically sensitive.
The bylaw as it stands only allows for seine netting for sandeels. This offers complete protection of all other species using the estuaries and harbours.
The Environment Agency pushed for a complete ban due to the poor ecological status of salmonids particularly Atlantic Salmon. The financial benefit to local communities of thriving salmon and sea trout is huge, not only getting local rods out fishing again but attracting anglers from other parts of the country to return.
The harbours and estuaries are home to all three native UK grey mullet species, particularly thick and thin lipped. These two species use these areas throughout the juvenile stages and then adulthood. It can take a thick lip mullet 10 – 12 years to reach maturity before they can breed for the first time. Often aggregating in large shoals and demonstrating a high site fidelity (often returning to the same places) they are particularly vulnerable to overfishing. During winter months they are known to aggregate in particularly large shoals prior to spawning; this makes them extremely vulnerable to commercial exploitation at the time when they are most in need of protection.
As previously mentioned, many of the areas protected are already BNAs, however this does not protect bass from unscrupulous commercial fishing or mortality when caught in nets set for other species and outside of months when bass nursery regulations apply, see link for current regulations,D&S IFCA Bass Nursery Areas and Regulations . Like grey mullet species they are spiky and easily caught in gill nets of any mesh fished tight or slack.
These inshore areas are important not only for the fish but for recreational angling as they offer good access as few anglers have boats and fishing from the open coast is often not possible or safe. Thriving inshore fisheries are of huge benefit recreationally and financially to local communities where anglers can fish for species such as grey mullet, flounder and gilthead bream that are of low importance to commercial fishing as well as bass. Further up the rivers anglers and communities benefit from increased salmonid stocks.
It should be noted that much of the recreational fishing is catch and release, it is estimated that over 95% of grey mullet caught recreationally are returned alive (who would want to eat a fish that has spent 10 – 20 years eating detritus including raw sewage anyway?). Some species more commonly retained such as bass (bass may not be retained if caught from a
boat), impact is extremely low and recreational anglers are severely restricted as to how many bass may be retained.
To sum up, the bylaw has little impact upon commercial fishing but huge positive impacts upon the fish living inshore, the communities and the financial value generated for Devon and Somerset. We firmly believe that there has been a positive impact upon the quantity and size of species since the bylaw was instigated as well as an increase in range of some species such as gilthead bream. During previous consultation landing data from the commercial sector highlighted the low commercial importance of these areas. The protection of these nursery and refuge areas, social and economic benefits to recreational angling, coastal communities as well as those further inland surely highlight that this bylaw should not be changed to weaken it. If you fish in the D&S IFCA region, please take a few minutes to contact D&S IFCA using the details below about the positive impacts and future potential the bylaw offers.
More Info
https://www.devonandsevernifca.gov.uk
D&S IFCA Home
ADDRESS: Brixham Laboratory, Freshwater Quarry,
Brixham, Devon,
TQ5 8BA
D&S IFCA Region
GET IN TOUCH
EMAIL: [email protected] PHONE: 01803 854648
OUT OF HOURS: 07740 175479
Back on the River Torridge and the River seems to be at the same level as last week after spells of heavy rain the river has been up and down. The colour is good but it’s still just a little higher than ideal.
I follow the normal ritual drifting the fly across the river hoping a springer will be resting up and ready to take my fly. After several weeks of good water there are undoubtedly salmon throughout the river but they are likely to be well spread out and I feel they will be more likely to intercept our flies when the river drops a little more and they begin to settle into those longstanding resting places.
After fishing most of the beat I take a short break. Setting the rod down I enjoy a packet of crisps and a satsuma. A high pitched familiar piercing cry caught my attention followed by a streak of electric blue as kingfisher streaked past. A movement caught my eye on the muddy bank and a leech was looping towards me in what could almost be a sinister lust for blood.
I had been watching these amazing creatures on Countryfile a few days ago. They are bred in leech farms for use in the NHS.
I fished back down through the beat casting into familiar lies. As I approached the last pool my confidence grew and as I drifted the fly across the hotspot I expected a take. Strangely it didn’t materialise as in the past that feeling has brought success. Next time?
Shortly after writing the above I recieved a report of 9lb salmon caught at Okement Foot by Alistair Blundell.
